


A Single Note In A Symphony

by x_Medusa_x



Series: A Fault In Their Mechanisms [2]
Category: Alien Series, Alien: Covenant
Genre: Angst, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Spoilers, follows the movie plot tbqh, human/android relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-14 20:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11215590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Medusa_x/pseuds/x_Medusa_x
Summary: You wake from hyper sleep to find Walter waiting for you; with a changed destination your new objective may end up changing.(Read "A Malfunctioning Heart" first)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yooo have some trash. I'll be over here working on the rest of it...

Walter knows that it is possibly against protocol, but when he takes his allotted few hours of rest, it's in your cabin. His is much smaller, and plainer. He likes the bright colours of your handmade blanket (he wonders often who made it for you; if he were to ask you, you would tell him it was your nonna) and the woven mat on the floor (a purchase at a cultural festival). 

The cabin is just so strange, so definitely yours, that he feels comforted; even if he doesn't really sleep, and he certainly doesn't dream, it's as if you're there with him, rather than in the crew hypersleep pod on cryodeck. When it is particularly cold, he has taken to wearing one of your scarves - possibly one of the plainest items you own, but then again his own tastes aren't quite as bright as yours - an act he feels you may not mind. 

\---

You're not expecting to wake so soon; has it been seven years already? Somehow, considering the blaring alarms, you don't think so. 

Your cryopod is open, but you're unsteady on your feet. Steady hands hold you upright, as if he appeared from thin air. You wonder, briefly, whether there are others in greater need of assistance, or whether he simply ignored them in favour of you. 

You want to say something sweet, but there's chaos on the cryodeck - all Walter really has time to do is press a bottle of water and his sweater into your hands before he's moving over to where Oram and Tennessee are trying to pry open a jammed pod. 

Still a little fuzzy headed, you pull on the sweater - it's nice and warm from where he was just wearing it - and obediently drink the water; he'll tell you off if you don't, and you know rehydration after cryosleep is important. 

What you do know, however, is that the jammed pod still isn't open, and everyone near it is seemingly frantic. 

This isn't how it was meant to go...

\---

You want to go and find Dany; after losing Jake like that, you know she's probably devastated and in need of her friends. Unfortunately, duty calls first, which has left you and the rest of the crew slumped in chairs or slouching against things on the bridge. 

Your assigned station, as the only other non-partnered crew member on board, is right next to Walter's, which is nice, considering you could really use his comforting presence right now. As it is, he's just about finished checking over the specifics of the damage to the solar sails - as best one can from the inside, anyway. 

He sits himself down next to you, finally, and gives you the faintest of smiles - whilst you (and the rest of the crew) had changed out of your sleep suits, you were still wearing his sweater over your own clothing. 

"Are you alright?" His voice is quiet, meant only for you to hear. You give a very small nod; there's no time to answer verbally, because the newly promoted Captain has arrived on the bridge, looking incredibly stressed. 

You can't help but feel a little sorry for Oram; he never wanted to be captain. He was content with his lot in life, his job on the ship. He'd wanted to be a preacher when you all arrived and settled. He may be incredibly insecure about his ability to lead, but he wasn't a bad person. 

It's nice and comforting when Walter reaches for your hand, nonetheless. 

\---

You're really not too sure about this; about the idea of going off course just to check out a rogue transmission, not to mention a planet that the entire crew knows nothing about. 

Despite the promising statistics, you're not the only one who's a little concerned. You know that Dany isn't happy about it, either. You'd love to know how Walter feels about the detraction from the mission, but there's no real way to tell; he won't badmouth a decision made by the captain, whether due to being simply too polite or some sort of ingrained loyalty. 

"Here." The bowl of food that Walter set in front of you was plain, as was all food aboard the Covenant, but still appreciated. He didn't have to eat, and thus rarely did, but he remembered to bring you food when you forgot. That was kind of him. It was those small kindnesses that drew you to him to begin with. 

"Thanks." You surveyed the contents with mild distaste, "what is it?" 

He tilted his head slightly to the side, trying to recall. It was an adorable gesture, not that you really thought he knew it. 

"I believe it is meant to be some sort of recreation of a northern Asian dish, given the spice combination and rice content." 

"Chow mein would have sufficed," you muttered, but you were oh so used to your android boyfriend's little quirks of speech. You were also used to the starship's mediocre food, and so wasted no time in shovelling the contents of the bowl down. Better that than the dried rations you'd all be eating when you arrived at your new destination. 

\---

You were due to arrive at the mystery planet in the morning; the majority of the crew had already headed to bed, eager to get some comfortable rest before the drop in the morning, or perhaps simply some privacy with a significant other. 

You were no different. You knew that once landing prep started, your time with Walter would be limited; he would be too busy trying to assist everyone, and you had your own work to do. 

You'd spent part of the evening in the greenhouse with Walter, helping him maintain the garden. Whilst it was a public area, most of the crew thought of it as the synthetic's domain, simply because he knew everything about every single plant growing in there, not to mention that he seemed to get the most joy out of the area. 

If anyone asked him, Walter would say it was simply a pleasant hobby, but you knew better. Knew each and every little quirk that set him apart from other synthetics. That was something Walter would never admit, not even to himself - that he was different, capable of feeling things beyond his programming. He was content with being the way he was; the idea of something being wrong with him concerned him. Saying that, he wouldn't give you up. Not for anything. 

\---

It was nice to be curled up together, reading. It was nice to read a stage play together, taking turns with the characters voices; Walter was particularly good at that, mimicking a different tone for each character. You felt you were probably mediocre in comparison, but he enjoyed your company all the same. 

You were on the first act of a new play - Hamlet, this time. The pair of you had spent the traveling evenings working through various Shakespeare and other famous plays together, just for the fun of it.

"It's a pity we won't get this finished before we land." You said; you were already half asleep, exhausted and keen for the morning. 

"Perhaps we'll finish it on a new planet? Get some sleep. You'll need energy for the morning." 


	2. The Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, this took forever to update. I'm sorry. I hope the next chapter to be longer...

You didn't sleep well. Maybe it was nervousness, or a heavy sense of curiosity. Either way, you woke a few hours before you were meant to. 

Walter, it seemed, hadn't slept. He didn't need sleep, not the way an organic person did. Of course, he liked to sleep on occasion, to rest his mind and body. More often than not, though, he liked to watch you sleep, wondering what you dreamed of. 

Unlike the earlier synthetic models, Walter did not (or perhaps could not) dream. He understood the process, though, and his curiosity allowed him to wonder what it was you saw in your mind whilst sleeping. He hoped that whatever it was, the dreams were pleasant. 

He did not lean towards arrogance; he had been designed to be modest and pleasant, not to think overly high of himself. Therefore it was not with arrogance, but curiosity, that he wondered whether you ever dreamed of him. 

As it so happened, you had. In the few hours of sleep you had been granted, you had dreamed of him. Of the future. Of a brightly decorated housing unit in the colony, of children sleeping in bunk beds. You knew, of course, that you wouldn't be able to have children naturally. Thankfully, there were thousands of embryos aboard the Covenant, and adoption was not only allowed but encouraged. 

You weren't quite sure what Walter would think of that. You figured he would either respond well, or with hesitation and anxiety. 

"Did you have a nightmare?" The pleasant drawl of his voice was comforting, even when you had no need of comfort. 

"No," you shook your head, "I dreamed of the future. Of living in the colony. With you." You were sort of nervous, admitting that. He didn't seem to mind. 

In fact, he was surprised and *pleased* that you had even *considered* any sort of future with him in it. He had, of course, considered it himself, but he hadn't expected you to ever want that, with someone like him, no matter what you told him.

"I hope they were pleasant dreams." 

You wriggled yourself closer to him. 

"They absolutely were." You informed him cheerfully, burying your face in his chest. By now, he was used to the level of physical contact that you liked; he didn't merely tolerate it, he looked forward to it. Some people had issues with touching synthetics. You had absolutely none. To you, he was simply another person, worth touching and being close to at all times. 

You were just glad he didn't seem to mind. (Why would he? He wasn't used to being treated like a person of importance, of having any sort of significance to anybody). 

He liked the steady pulse in your chest. Of course, he had one to match, but yours was an authentic, organic heartbeat. He couldn't say the same for himself; that wasn't that it bothered him, more he just found your steady humanity pleasant. Comforting. 

"In a few hours, we will arrive at our new destination." Walter liked idle small talk at the best of times; right now, though, he mostly wanted your thoughts on the situation. 

"I hope it's a safe place," you muttered against his chest. You knew the planet was safe biologically speaking - the atmosphere, the land masses. But god knows what was actually lurking down there. You were with Dany on that - nobody knew what the fuck was down there, and you didn't think it was a great idea to head down without suits. 

"So do I." The synthetic's voice was oddly quiet, contemplative. It was his job - his duty - to protect the humans on board the Covenant, but the decision to go and explore the hidden planet was beyond his control. It made him uneasy, a sensation he was not used to. He didn't like it. Walter did not like feeling anxious, did not like anything beyond his control. 

"Hey." You gave him a hesitant little smile, "maybe we'll be able to pick out a nice spot for a housing unit?" 

"We? Together?" He was certain he had misheard you; did you really want that? 

"If you'd like." You backtracked, thinking you had offended him, "I mean... it's your choice, too." 

He understood your hesitation. It wasn't from regret, but from concern for what he wanted. 

"Of course I would like that." He shook his head, "I just wasn't expecting you to offer... to want any sort of future with me." 

You rolled your eyes, moved up to kiss him gently. 

"Of course I do."


End file.
